Soil tillage sled



Sept. 24, 1968 M. R. ROBINSON SOIL TILLAGE SLED 2 Sheets-Shet 1 FiledOct. 14, 1965 INVENTOR MAYES R. ROBINSON BY United States Patent3,402,774 SOIL TILLAGE SLED Mayes R. Robinson, Gilroy, Califi, assignorto International Harvester Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation ofDelaware Filed Oct. 14, 1965, Ser. No. 495,811 2 Claims. (Cl. 172-4l3)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A frame and supporting wheel construction fora soil tillage sled wherein the frame includes at least three transversesquare bars rigidly interconnected at their ends by unitary elongatedchannel shaped opposed clamping elements having longitudinally spacednotches adapted to seat opposite sides of all of said bars with meanssecuring the clamping elements to the bars, and wherein the supportingwheels mounting means likewise includes opposed channel-shaped elementslongitudinally notched to seat opposite sides of any two adjacent barsand adjustable longitudinally of the frame for optional attachment toany other two adjacent frame bars.

The present invention relates to a soil tillage sled frame constructionin combination with certain attachments thereto including sled runners,bed formers, tongue assembly, and wheel assemblies. In more particular,the present invention relates to the constructions of such frame andsuch attachments, and the unitary coaction between such constructions.In particular, the frame is one made up of spaced parallel transversebars and longitudinal clamps each of which clamps comprise but two jawsthat extend across all of the bars and act to space the bars and to holdthem in such spacing. Thus the clamps act both as structural members andas clamps. This is in contrast to the prior devices which used a grid ofstructural members and separate clamping means or welding at the gridintersections to obtain connection between the longitudinal andtransverse sets of grid members. Thus it is an object of the presentinvention to devise a grid frame for earth working tools that is easilyadjustable as to the spacing of the grid members, and in which one setof grid members act as clamps to secure thereto the other set of gridmembers.

One of the uses of the present device is that of forming raised bed rowsin Which crops are planted. Thus one of the tools often attached to thepresent frame are bed formers adjacent the front edge of the frame, theforward edge in the direction of travel of the device across a field. Inthe past it has not been possible to adjust a carrier of bed formers sothat the resulting beds would be of a uniform and desired height. Thishas been so because of a lack of means for setting the height at whichthe bed formers would ride within narrow adjustments, often neededwithin a quarter or eighth inch; and because of a lack of means ofreadily setting and controlling the aspect of the bed formers. Thus itis another object of the present invention to devise a bed formercarrying device that may have its height and aspect readily adjusted andadjusted to precise values of height and aspect.

These defects of the prior devices are overcome and the above objectsachieved by a grid frame construction outlined above and by theprovision of sled runners that may be easily and precisely adjusted asto their spacing from the frame to which they are attached and whichcarries the bed formers. Further, the aspect of the frame and the bedformers carried thereby is adjusted and set by a tongue pivoted to theframe and an adjustable length jack operative between the tongue and theframe to set ice and hold the angle therebetween to give frame and bedformers a desired aspect.

One embodiment of the invention such as outlined briefly above, and thatachieves the mentioned objects is hereinafter described in detail andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the device with parts cut awayfor clarity of construction.

FIGURE 2 is a front end view of the same device.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the device shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2.

In the drawings, the frame 11 of the present ,device enables adjustmentsto be made thereto and to equipment attached thereto to easilyaccommodate various planting row spacings, bed widths and heights, andbed spacings. Not only may such adjustments be made but they may beeasily made. Further, while such adjustments may be easily made, theframe is more rigid than those of known devices intended for similarfunctioning. Such versatility is had by a grid construction of the frameemploying transverse square section tubular bars that are spaced apartand coextensively parallel to each other in a single plane, andemploying spaced and parallel 10ngitudinal clamps that extend normal toand across all of the transverse members. In the presently disclosedembodiment of the invention, there is shown five of such transverse bars12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and two of such longitudinal clamps 18, 19, onelocated near each side of the frame. Each of the transverse bars isorientated with an edge thereof uppermost. Each of the clamps iscomposed of a top part 21 on and above the transverse bars and a bottompart 22 contacting and below the transverse bars. Each clamp part is inthe form of a channel with the flange edges of the channels inopposition so that the two parts together form a rectangular tube. Wherethe flanges of the clamp parts contact the transverse bars, the flangeshave been formed 'with V-shaped notches 23 whose edges contact the facesof the transverse tubes. That is, if the sides of the transverse tubesare normal to each other, the edges of the notches are normal to eachother. The depth of the notches is such that the channel flanges, whilein opposition from one part to the other, are spaced, but deep enough tosecurely hold the transverse bars in position. The clamps are held tothe bars by bolts 24 that pass thru, between and bear on the webs of theclamp chan nels. There is a bolt 24 at each side of a bar and close tothe bar at each intersection of a bar and a clamp.

While the illustrated embodiment discloses five bars and two clamps, thenumber of bars may be three or more depending on the area to be coveredby the frame and on the equipment to be attached to the frame. It isdesirable that the spacing of the bars be done evenly, that is on amodule. With this in mind, the illustrated frame clamps have beenprovided with one unused set of notches 23 that could receive one morebar that would be the same as one each of the five shown. Thus, theframe is versatile and modular. All of the attachments to the frame may'be designed for attachment thereto at any location on the frame as thebars are evenly spaced apart. Also, it is evident that the bars andclamps may be made in any desired lengths so as to obtain any desiredframe area. This easy adjustment is achieved without the use of a largenumber of small clamp fixtures, one for each intersection of a lateraland longitudinal member as found in prior art devices. This use of topand bottom clamp parts that are notched to receive the bars results in arigid frame. Even under large stresses and vibration, the bars remain inthe clamp notches and evenly spaced, and bars and clamps remain normalto each other. The frame does not wrack to change the originalrectangular grid pattern.

There are four attachment forms secured to the frame in the presentshowing. Three of these forms coact with the frame at all times in theformation of a series of beds, and particularly in forming the beds witha desired height. These three coacting attachement forms are a tongueand associated linkage 31 at the front of the frame. Four bed formers32, are spaced apart and aligned across and below the front end of theframe, A pair of runners 33 is located one at each side of and below theframe. The reasons for the coaction of these attachments with each otherand with the frame will be given hereafter. The fourth attachment formshown is a pair of wheel assemblies 34 that may serve as gauge wheels ortowing wheels.

Each of the bed formers comprises spaced side plates 36, and a top plate37 extending between and joined to the side plates. The plates form atunnel that tapers from front to back with the rear opening being theshape of the bed. The four bed formers shape four beds, three completefurrows, and, at each side of the frame, a half furrow. Each of the fullfurrows is formed by the joining together of the side plates of adjacentformers at their front edges 38 to constitute a wedge shaped plow. Thebed formers are secured to the front transverse bar 12 by means ofupright arms 39 welded to the plates of the formers and clamps 40securing the uprights to the bar 12. The uprights are of lengths and theclamps 40 are such that the spacing of the formers along and from theframe may be varied, and the formers equally spaced from the frame.These formers may be of the general type such as disclosed by Mostrong,Re. 26,439, Sept. 3, 1963.

The outside bed former at each side of the frame has secured to itsoutside plate, at the front edge thereof, a sweep 41 that removes earthfrom the full width of the bottom of the furrow that is outside of theoutside bed. This cleaning of the outside furrows allow the shoes 42 ofthe runners 33 to follow in the bottom of these furrows and to aid indetermining the height of the beds and to carry some of the weight ofthe device. The runners comprise the shoes 42 formed as channels withthe flanges thereof extending upward and with the front end of thechannel curved upward. Spaced along the shoe are three uprighttelescopic legs, each having an upper square rod 43 secured at its upperend to the web of the bottom part 22 of the frame clamp, and a lowersquare tubular sleeve 44 with its bottom end inside of and secured tothe runner. The upper end of the sleeve is slotted an the diagonal and atwo part clamp 46 around the portions of the sleeve opposite such slothas one of its parts secured to one side of the diagonal slot and theother part to the opposite side of the slot. Bolts between the partsserve to draw the clamp parts and the upper end portions of the sleevetogether to secure the sleeve to the rod. By loosening the clamp boltsand sliding the sleeve relative to the rod, and again tightening theclamp bolts, the length of the legs may be varied, Usually the bottomsof the shoes 42 form a plane with the lower edges of the bed former sideplates 36.

In the use of the present device, listers, and perhaps other implements,are used to prepare the soil and roughly raise it into ridges. Thepresent device then takes over to form the finished bed. If not enoughsoil has been raised for the beds, it is necessary that the bed formersbe set to dig in and raise more soil into the beds. If too much soil hasbeen listed into the ridges, then the bed formers must spread some ofthe soil into the furrows. The bed formers are adjusted to accomplishthis raising or spreading of soil by adjusting the aspect of the frame.If the needed amount of soil is in the rough ridges, then the plane ofthe frame 11 is parallel to the plane of the soil being worked. If moresoil is needed in the ridges to make the proper beds, then the front ofthe frame is lowered so that the plane of the frame slopes downward fromthe plane of the field in the direction of travel. If there is too muchsoil in the ridges then the plane of the frame slopes upward from theplane of the field in the f 4 direction of travel. This downward andupward sloping of the frame may be called its aspect, downward or upwardaspect. Also, the aspect may be considered as negative or positive, orneutral, negative being downward. The control of the aspect, in thepresent device, is had by controlling the angle that the shaft 47 of thetongue 31 makes with the plane of the frame, the tongue being adjustablein a plane normal to the plane of the frame and the bars 12, 13, etc.This control is had by pivoting the shaft 47 of the tongue to the framejust ahead of the forward bar 12 of the frame. The pivot axis isparallel to the bars 12, 13, etc., of the frame. This is accomplished bysecuring to the rear end of the tongue shaft and normal thereof atubular pintel 48 at the midpoint thereof. The tongue shaft 47 iscentered on the frame with the pintle extending for about half the widthof the frame. The outer end portions of the pintle are journaled inbearings 49, one adjacet each end of the pintle.

Movement of the tongue shaft and the pintle about the axis of the pintleis controlled by means continuously adjustable such as a hydraulicaspect jack 51 that has one end pivotally secured to the tongue shaft 47a short distnace forward of the pintle and the other end pivotallysecured to the upper end of a three legged mast 52 that rests on andextends upward from the frame 11 a short distance to the rear of thepintle 48. The front end of the tongue shaft 47 has secured theretotractor connecting linkage having a clevis 53 for pin connection to atractor draw bar, thru the back of the clevis a horizontal pivot pin 54transversely of the shaft 47, and back of the pin 54 a pair of abuttingplates 56, 57 that are pivotally pinned together by a pin 58 that isaxial of the shaft 47 with the forward plate 56 formed forwardly tocarry the horizontal pin 54 and the rearward plate 57 secured to thefront end of the shaft 47. The levis pin and the horizontal pin 54 andtheir supporting means constitute a universal joint. By this linkage theshaft 47 and the frame 11 can rotate about the axis of the shaft 47 onthe axial pin 58, and the tractor can pitch about the horizontal pin 54and turn about a pin thru the forward end of the clevis. The aspect ofthe frame 11 is set by hydraulic adjustment of the aspect jack 51 whenthe clevis 53 is connected to the draw bar of a tractor. From a neutralaspect, the jack 51 is shortened to obtain a negative aspect andlengthened to obtain a positive aspect for the frame. From the abovedescription it may be seen that the frame 11, the bed formers 32, therunners 33, and the tongue 31 all cooperate to form the beds to thedesired shape and height.

Also secured to the frame are a pair of wheel assemblies. Only oneassembly will be described as both are identical in construction andcontrol. The wheel assembly is secured to the frame by a two part clampsimilar to the previously described frame clamp parts 18, 19, The upperchannel 61 and the lower channel 62 are wider than the frame clampchannels 18, 19 and there are four bolts 24 instead of two at eachintersection of the clamp With a transverse bar. The wheel assemblyclamps extend across and are secured to only the front three transversebars 12, 13, 14. At the intersection of the bars and the clamps, theclamps are notched in the same manner as the frame clamps.

Secured to and depending from the flanges of the bottom clamp channelare a pair of parallel spaced triangular shaped hanger plates 63, 64,one from each flange. Pivoted to the lower corner of and outside of thehangers are a pair of parallel and spaced wheel arm plates 66, 67 thatextend rearwardly of the frame. A wheel 68 is carried and pivotedbetween the rear ends of the wheel plates. Below the wheel clamp bottomchannel 62 and longitudinally thereof and between the hanger wheel armplates is positioned a hydraulic jack 69 that has its rod end pivoted toa cross brace 71 secured between the wheel plates 66, 67 forward of thewheel. The jack cylinder, the forward end of the jack is pivoted betweena pair of cars 72 depending from and secured to the bottom channel 62 ofthe wheel clamp and forward of the hanger plates 63, 64. The wheel jackis above the pivot of the wheel arms so that if the wheel is in contactwith the ground, shortening of the jack will move the wheel toward theframe and lower it toward the ground and lengthening the jack will raisethe frame away from the ground.

The wheels may be lowered for raising the bed formers 30 and the runners33 from the ground, and for transporting the device to and from thefields. Also, the wheels may be lowered to make a short run adjustmentof the height of the beds being formed by the device. Also, when formingbeds, the wheels may take some of the frame load and thus act as a fineadjustment of the height of the beds. That is, the wheels may substitutefor or work with the runners under some circumstances.

The wheel jacks 69 and the tongue jack 51 are provided with standardhydraulic hoses 73, shown only in part, and standard controls, notshown, so that the described functioning of the jacks may be had.

The wheel assemblies can easily be moved backward across the frame towhere their clamps extend across the back three transverse bar positions14, 15, 16 and the wheels located to the rear of the frame. In theposition shown, the wheels are close to the center of ravity of thedevice so that there is little down load on the tractor bar when thewheels are down. Also, in this position, less room is needed for turningthe tractor and its attached sled than when the wheels are placedfarther back on the frame. However, in some instances When the frame iscrowded with further attachments such as rotary cultivators, seeders,fertilizer applicators, and bed rollers there may be the need to placethe wheels rearward of the frame. Further, the wheels may, by thepresent construction be moved to the sides of the frame to run in thefurrows outside of the formed beds. All of these arrangements are easilypossible with the present construction.

It will thus be seen that the present device has many functions andperforms them in new and better ways.

Having thus described an embodiment of my invention, its constructionand operation, I claim:

1. For use with an implement frame including at least threelongitudinally spaced transversely extending parallel bars, generallysquare in cross section, and means interconnecting the ends of said barsto form a rigid rectangular tool carrying frame for the optionalmounting thereon of different earth working tools performing differentfunctions: an adjustable transport wheel assembly mounted on acombination of two or more adjacent of said bars and longitudinallyadjustable to a mounting position on another combination of two or moreof said bars, said wheel assembly comprising a pair of vertically spacedlongitudinally elongated channel members having the flanges thereof inopposition, said channel members being removably secured together andeach having longitudinally spaced pairs of opposed notches adapted tomate with the opposed angled faces of any pair of adjacent bars, arearwardly extending wheel carrying arm pivotally connected at itsforward end to one of said channel members, and a jack operativelyconnected at one end to the frame and at its other end to said arm forvertically swinging the latter and said wheel relative to the frame.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1, wherein a hanger is secured tothe lower of .said channel members and includes a pair of spaced plates,said wheel carrying arm includes a pair of spaced plates pivotallyconnected at their forward ends between the plates of said hanger and awheel is rotatably mounted between the rear ends of said arm plates,said jack being connected at one end etween said arm plates and at itsother end to the lower of said channel members forwardly of and abovethe pivoted connection of said arm plates to said hanger.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,361,605 10/1944 Cross 1724212,739,396 3/1956 Frenzel 172327 X 2,987,125 6/1961 Singleton 1723933,077,231 2/1963 Hamilton 172-421 3,128,833 4/1964 Johnson et a1 172176X 3,235,013 2/1966 Kirkpatrick 172-413 3,239,015 3/1966 Scott 172-4133,252,522 5/1966 Taylor 172-763 3,288,480 11/1966 Calkins et a1 172456 XABRAHAM G. STONE, Primal) Examiner.

J. R. OAKS, Assistant Examiner.

